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The \"How To\" Replace a Gasket

tbonemac
tbonemac Posts: 69
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Well I was off today, and the rest of the week, and I decided to get the egg ready for the big cooks for the remainder of this week. I had my phone with me and decided to document how I replaced the gasket with the new Nomex that the mothership sent to me.
This is a medium egg that was purchased in March. The first gasket fell off and my dealer gave me a replacement gasket. The glue on this one did hold, but shame on me for not checking the alignment and the gasket fried after a few cooks.
After reading many different posts on replacing a gasket here are the steps that I took. Hope it helps any other newbies that might be doing this sometime soon.
1st Step was to install some cable ties around each side of the hinge bracket. This is a must. I had some smaller ties so I used 3 per side. Might have been overkill but I did not want to take any chances here.
1246510550.jpg
2nd Step was to loosen the band bolts. Got these loose and removed the top from the egg. Then I removed the entire hinge bracket assembly with the bands. Then I was able to remove the lower portion of the egg.
1246510552.jpg
The only reason I removed both pieces was due to the temperature today and a small chance of thunderstorms. I did not want to be working with the glue in direct sun or a pouring down rain. So I took everything to the shop to finish this project,
3rd Step was to get all my tools required. A Couple of different scrapers, Acetone and the 3M Super 77 Adhesive. Not shown was a utlity knife blade that came in very handy. Both the Acetone and 3M was purchased at Lowe's.
1246510553.jpg
4th Step was to start scraping the old gasket and adhesive off the flats. All I can say here is be patient. When you think you are done, scrap some more. I spent about an hour scraping the top and bottom clean. Towards the end I used the utlity knife to get the remaining solids off the edge.
1246510554.jpg
5th, when you finishing scraping you should be able to run your hand around the rim and not feel any rough spots. Once you are here you are ready to apply the Acetone to remove any old glue or residue. This part was a little messy. It was hot enough today that it evaporated pretty quickly so I was dousing the rag pretty good taking care not to get any acetone in the inside of the egg.
When this was completed I had the rims looking like this, took about 30 minutes here.
1246510556.jpg
6th Step, Prepping for the Nomex. All I can say is thanks for the tips about spraying into a cup and brushing it on. This worked out great. Be prepared to throw the brush away after this step, you will not get the brush cleaned. Also in this heat the 2 minutes to get tacky was not accurate. The glue was getting tacky pretty quickly and you don't want to work to far ahead here in this step.
1246510557.jpg
7th Step, Some say to preheat the gasket although the BGE instructions did not mention to do this. I found a middle ground here. Earlier in the day I unrolled my gasket and laid it out in the full sun to heat up to 90 degrees. It got the material very limp and made it very easy to work with. Before adding the glue I laid out the gasket on the rim to ensure I had enough for the top and bottom and sure enough there was plenty. So I cut the gasket material in half to make it easier to apply onto the rims. I picked a starting point on the sides and worked the gasket around the rim. I did the top on one side and the bottom on the opposite side. I did not want it in the back with the hot spot opposite of the draft door and I did not want it in front where I would be working the food. As far as the application, I found that setting it down just off the inner edge and using my finger to push it right to the inner edge worked really well and it kept the gasket fairly level all the way around. After I was done I took a small roller and rolled down the gasket to get any remaining raised parts pushed down. Here is the top and bottom with the Nomex. This step was much easier than what I was planning on.
1246510558.jpg
1246510559.jpg
Here is the amount of gasket that I had left over. Again I was installing onto a medium 15" diameter, but had a total of ~28" left over.
1246510560.jpg
8th Step should be consider optional. I don't remember reading this anywhere, but the Nomex material is wider than the rims. So after the glue had some time to cure I laid down some boards and set the top and bottom down on the boards. I took a good SHARP blade and just went around the diameter cutting the nomex so that it was even and nothing prutuding out. Now the gasket material is a little tricky to cut. You must have a sharp blade and make several passes. My first pass would just score the surface. The second pass a little more and the third pass going all the way thru. It takes a little feel for this portion. Start on the back side of the egg and work it around and all will be well. I had a few places where I have some "hairy" pieces sticking out. I just took a lighter and lightly ran over these to singe the hairs so that it looked like it was made for the egg.
1246510561.jpg
9th, Final Step, put it all back together. Remembering to do the alignment/dollar bill test to ensure a nice tight joint around the rims.
1246510563.jpg

All in all a good day and I would guess around 4 hours from start to finish. I am very glad I did not rush this job and feel great about the results. But I guess the real results will be tomorrow when I fire it back up and give it a test run before a good low and slow cook Friday night. I hope this helps anyone looking for some pointers and thanks to all those that made posts and comments that I used to pull this off. Any questions or comments let me know. Have a Great Holiday. B)
Tim

Comments

  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Great post, thanks for the pictorial.

    The only thing I could suggest is to use 91% alcohol and let it soak. Work in short lengths so the alcohol doesn't evaporate.

    It takes me about 15 minutes on a large or medium to remove an old gasket, top and bottom and clean the ceramics.

    GG
  • Interesting ... can you clarify '91% alcohol?' ... sounds pretty self explanatory but I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about. I replaced the gaskets on my large using acetone and it did take a long time. Going to be replacing the gaskets on the small but have been putting it off because I am not looking forward to the hours of scraping!
  • Good post Tim. I'm sure there are many people who weren't sure if they wanted to tackle this but now they can in confidence! Now get out and start cooking if you have the rest of the week off!
  • Not sure why the the nylon ties to secure the bands.
    I have never had any problem not securing them but it probably doesn't hurt.

    I have always used Goo Gone to remove the gasket. Let soak for for 30 to 60 seconds and just lift the gasket up.

    Using a flap wheel grinder is the best method I have found to remove residue and prep the surface.

    I prefer to use a high temp (500 or 600 degree) silicone sealer instead of M77.

    Spacy
  • rooster
    rooster Posts: 252
    good job!! EXCELLENT pics and step by step.
  • Great write-up and photos! I have done Nomex replacements on two different eggs. Wish I had taken pics. :( Both went very well. Like you said, get all of your supplies ready and take your time to get the surface as clean as possible.
    After installing, give the adhesive plenty of time to cure before using the EGG.

    Have a GREAT weekend.

    Happy 4th of July everybody!!!
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    nice step-by-step

    i'll only add that if folks are having difficulty finding super-77 that they consider contact cement.

    super-77's "sticky" ingredient is natural latex rubber (which is probably what makes it foodsafe). spraying it into a cup basically allows all the volatile solvents they add to it (so that it stays in liquid suspension and so it can be sprayed) to evaporate. this leaves you with, essentially, rubber cement.

    contact cement (the natural rubber kind) is basically the same thing. the solvents in all three evaporate and leave you with natural latex rubber, gum adhesive... it's just not mixed in a way that can be sprayed from a can

    no magic in those cans, so if super-77 is hard to find i'd try rubber cement
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Just alcohol with less water content.

    91% Isopropyl Alcohol, you should be able to find it most anywhere. I get it a walmart as it is pretty inexpensive there.

    Getting the gasket itself off is pretty easy, just use a scraper. I used a narrow stiff putty knife, some of the razor scrapers tbonemac has pictures will work as easy or maybe easier. Sometimes I don't have to soak the gasket to get the majority off.

    I really don't put much effort into the initial removal it is just a quick scrap through. Whatever comes off comes off.

    After that initial take down I start soaking in 8" to 10" lengths. I use the blue auto shop (paper) towels as they have more strength.

    Put on the alcohol and let is soak for a while, it needs some time to do it's job. I put on a second coat then use the putty knife to get it clean. This step usually gets all the adhesive off. Once in a great while I will have to use a third coat for scraping.

    I will then put on more alcohol and rub with the towel, this step usually gets the ceramic back almost to new condition.

    I then continue around the entire surface. The whole process doesn't take much more than 15 to 20 minutes on a large.

    gasket2.jpg

    The mark at the 5 o'clock position didn't come out with alcohol and acetone didn't do any better.

    I wasn't sloppy with the alcohol or acetone but I didn't worry about any spilling inside the egg. Both evaporate extremely fast.

    GG
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Stacy,

    Oops! works much better than Goo Gone, or petrolium based cleaners. You might find this post interesting.

    http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=475706&catid=1

    However, BGE Service (John Creel) specifically said specifically not to use goo gone or oops! or any petroleum based cleaners.

    John Creel also said not to use flap wheels, power tools, grinders, sanders or anything that will damage the surfaces of the dome or base. Doing so will void the warranty.

    If anyone wonders or has questions call or email John at BGE Service and get the scoop first hand.

    Kent
  • Swift
    Swift Posts: 7
    Thanks for the demo. I used steal wool to strip the adhesive. It worked well, but the end result was not as clean as yours.
  • thanks to all for the tips. I only needed to replace the top gasket. Strapping the hinges and loosening the band and pulling the lid off worked great.
    For a work surface, I used the base of my shop vac. I pulled the top off the vac and used the bottom tank portion to hold the egg top steady. It cradled it well, and as a bonus, it was wheeled, so i was able to sit down at the same work level and just spin the lid around as I cleaned and then applied the gasket.
    spraying the 3M 77 into a cup and brushing on worked well too.
    watch out for those acetone fumes. :sick: :S